Sunshine Sentinel

There were 638 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Jan. 22, a 4.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 3,539 deaths in the state. 18 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 49.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	917	677
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	836	599
Heart disease	638	670
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	529	611
Cerebrovascular diseases	226	223
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	133	157
Diabetes mellitus	95	118
Alzheimer's disease	87	118
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	54
Influenza and pneumonia	38	39

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	274	330